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Ricardo Borges de Castro
Associate Director and Head of the Europe in the World Programme
Ricardo Borges de Castro is Associate Director and Head of the Europe in the World Programme at the European Policy Centre.

Ricardo served as Adviser for Foreign Affairs and then as Adviser on Strategic Foresight to the European Political Strategy Centre, the European Commission’s in-house think tank, reporting directly to President Jean-Claude Juncker. Ricardo led the EPSC’s work on foresight, focusing mainly on global trends, ‘anticipatory democracy,’ and policymaking. During his tenure, he spearheaded efforts to mainstream anticipation and foresight across Commission services. He was also the European Commission’s project leader for the European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS), an EU inter-institutional collaboration on global trends and strategic foresight.

Before joining the EPSC, Ricardo served as Member of Cabinet and Personal Assistant to José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, as well as spokesperson for ‘Europe and the World’ at the Commission’s Spokespersons’ Planning and Coordination Unit. In these roles, Ricardo regularly accompanied and assisted President Barroso in his meetings with heads of state and government of EU Member States, in summits with third countries and Strategic Partners (USA, Japan, China, Russia, Brazil, Korea, South Africa, etc.) and in international fora, including the G20, G8/G7, NATO, ASEM, and the UN.

In Portugal, Ricardo served in the Prime Minister’s Office as Political Adviser to the Prime Minister after spending four years in the Portuguese Parliament as Policy Advisor for foreign affairs, national defence policy, and East Timor.

Ricardo taught international relations at Lusíada University in Lisbon, was a Course Assistant at Harvard Kennedy School, and a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Political Studies at the Catholic University in Portugal. He also contributes to executive trainings on ‘strategic foresight’ and ‘evidence-based policymaking’ at the School of Transnational Governance, European University Institute, and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy.

Ricardo is currently an Associate Fellow, Global Fellowship Initiative, at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy.

Ricardo holds a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (MALD) from The Fletcher School, Tufts University, and a DPhil (PhD) in International Relations from the University of Oxford (St Antony’s College).

Besides Portugal, he has lived in the US, UK, Turkey, and lately in Belgium.

Ricardo enjoys running and the outdoors.

PROGRAM

Europe in the World

PROJECT

Areas of expertise

EU’s international role, future of Europe, global trends, transatlantic relations, multilateralism, democratisation, strategic foresight, scenarios, enlargement

Current positions

Associate Fellow, Global Fellowship Initiative, Geneva Centre for Security Policy

Education

DPhil in International Relations, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford
Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (MALD), The Fletcher School, Tufts University

Languages

Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, Turkish (basic)

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Publications

Strategic foresight / OUTLOOK PAPER
Europe in the world in 2023: Learning the language of power?
By Amanda Paul , Andrew Duff , Ivano di Carlo , Shada Islam , Mihai Sebastian Chihaia , Ricardo Borges de Castro , Iana Maisuradze , Georg Riekeles , Maxime Sierro , Rita Mendonça Barbosa Amorim Lobo , Simon Dekeyrel , Marta Mucznik , Svitlana Taran , Philipp Lausberg , Zeynep Güner , Berta López Domènech - 22/02/2023
China / OP-ED
The cost of Non-China: Reading the tea leaves
By Ricardo Borges de Castro - 25/10/2022
Security & defence / EXTERNAL PUBLICATION
A compass and a concept: A guide to the EU and NATO strategic outlooks
By Ricardo Borges de Castro , Rita Mendonça Barbosa Amorim Lobo - 23/09/2022
Security & defence / COMMENTARY
Time for Europe to stop hitting the security snooze button
By Ricardo Borges de Castro , Maxime Sierro - 04/07/2022
Ukraine / COMMENTARY
EU candidate status for Ukraine is a geopolitical and moral imperative
By Amanda Paul , Ricardo Borges de Castro - 21/06/2022


Contributions

Finland / INTERVIEW
Marin's new role in foreign policy
Ricardo Borges de Castro was interviewed by YLE on Prime Minister Sanna Marin's role in shaping Finland's foreign policy. 

Read the full article here. (In Finnish)

Marin's new role in foreign policy
15 February 2023 - ,
YLE
Security & defence / INTERVIEW
Guerre en Ukraine, un an au coeur de la diplomatie française : "Emmanuel, ils sont dans nos rues…"
Ricardo Borges de Castro was interviewed by L'Express on France-Ukraine relations in the context of Russia's war on Ukraine. 

Read the article here. (In French)

Guerre en Ukraine, un an au coeur de la diplomatie française : "Emmanuel, ils sont dans nos rues…"
12 February 2023 - ,
L'Express
Ukraine / INTERVIEW
Zelensky arrisca segurança para vir pedir mais armas à Europa
Ricardo Borges de Castro was interviewed by the Portuguese newspaper Publico on President Zelensky's visit to Brussels and his request for additional military support for Ukraine in light of the new Russian offensive. 

Read the article here. (In Portuguese)

Zelensky arrisca segurança para vir pedir mais armas à Europa
09 February 2023 - ,
Publico


Media mentions



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